Archive for October 2nd, 2011

1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” -NRVS

God gives the Law so that we will know when we have sinner. This begs, “what is sin?”.

Sin is moving out of relationship with God. God’s trust and hope is that we will “Put God First.”

In the positive, If you put God first…

our stuff would not define us and drive us like it does.

we would not put God’s name on our success nor our failures

we would learn to rest in God and return to work restored

we would honor our family commitments and relationships

we would not murder.. anger and rage

we would honor our marriage or our singleness

we would be not take what is not ours

we would tell the true

we would be content with what we have.

HOMEWORK: Inventory your stuff. Go around with a camera, video or a notepad. Make a record of all your things, accounts, debts, investments, and sentimental stuff.. What am I worth? Does God love me because of the things I have or does not love me because of what I do not have?

God trusts that you are worth dying for. Jesus Christ dies for our sins. This is not just about fulfilling OT prophetic words, so things match up as a proof. It is the very heart of God, being shown to us.

God gives us the laws, because God wants us to not sin.

CONTRARY TO POPULAR THOUGHT: Sin is not doing some thing wrong. Sin is doing something that separates our relationship with God.

God wants us to live IN RELATIONSHIP with God.

The Big Ten become the core markers that give us a clue if we IN and moving closer, or OUT and moving away.

Kids on the playground hid a folded piece of paper or a pocket toy that is designed as ‘it.’ The other kid walks around the yard receiving signals, “You’re getting hotter.” or “You’re getting colder.” until the one searching finds the treasure.

God wants us to find God’s heart. God wants us to move closer, getting warmer and hotter each day.

When we move away, we call this sin.

When we move a tiny, insignificant step away.. we are still moving away.

Lost in Sin is a point in which we no longer ask, nor care, where God is, and in fact we trust that God does not actually matter in our daily choices and actions.

What is the way to the Heart of God? How do we put God first?

we would be content with what we have.

tell the true, to others and especially to ourselves.

claim what is ours and not the things or ideas of others. (Think for yourself in thinking about God.)

honor our marriage or our singleness

act like your life and the life of others is a precious gift, don’t keep the body, mind or spirit.

honor our family commitments and relationships, that build up our relationship with God.

rest in God and return to work restored

Praise God, but don’t blame God for our success or our failures

Trust God more than your stuff.

Here is where the rubber meets the road: Can we put God first?

That’s what we are going to look at, chew on, and work through this whole month.